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7/21/2019 The Religious Views of David Hume.
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TH
RELIGIOUS VIEWS OF D VID
HUM
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THE RELIGIOUS VIEWS OF D VID HUME
Degree: Mas
t e r of Arts
Depar tment : Relig ious S tudies
Author: Vij i thasena
Rajapakse
BSTR CT
This d i s se r t a t i o n seeks in
the
main to c l a r i fy , and
where approp r i a t e ,
a l so
to eva lua te Hume s re l ig ious
views.
Hume s
re l ig ious
r e f l ec t io n s
were
in f luenced
by
a
va r i e t y
of
f ac to r s - -e sp ec i a l l y
by h i s own
negat ive convict ions and the
cl imate of opin ion t h a t preva i led dur ing h i s age. After
a re
view
of the na ture and ex ten t
o f those
inf luences ,
the
main
d i scuss ion
in
t h i s
s tudy i s focused on
Hurne s var ious wri t ings .
Hume
was r e lu c t an t
t o a t t ack re l ig ion
in
a f o r t h r i gh t
fash ion i
and
he
made roany
specious
profess ions
of
b e l i e f .
However,
the
main d r i f t
of
hi s
r e f l e c t i ons was
l a rge ly negat ive and scep t i ca l .
He dispIayed a h o s t i l e a t t i t u d e towards re l ig ion , and refused to
a l low t h a t God s ex i s t ence i s
demonstrable .
His
var ious
argu-
ments tended
to
undermine
the
r a t i o n a l
foundations of ph i lo
sophical theo logy .
His
c r i t i q u e in
f a c t cons t i tu ted
an a t tack
on
a
nurnber o f
d e i s t i c
as
weI l
as
orthodox
pos i t i ons .
Never-
t he le ss , Hume was not a dogmatic a t h e i s t . Despi te hi s ba s i c
a l l y secuIar ou t look ,
he
was even prepared
to
accept a vague
and
tenuous forro o f the ism.
7/21/2019 The Religious Views of David Hume.
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McGILL UNIVERSITY
THE
RELIGIOUS
VIEWS
OF
D VID
HUME
y
Vijithasena Rajapakse
A
thesis presented
to
The Faculty of
Graduate
Studies and
Research
in
p r t i l
ful f i l lment
of
the requirements
for
the degree
of
Master
of Arts
July
1972.
Vijithasena Rajapakse 973
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BBREVI TIONS
The
undermentioned
abbreviat ions
and short t i t l e s have been
adopted
in references to
Hume s writ ings throughout the
tex t
o f
th is
thes i s
The
edi t ions used
are
indicated in
the
Bibliography.
Treat ise
Abstract
Essays
EHU
EPM
N R
Dialogues
My Own
Life
Let ters
New
Let ters
A Treat ise
of
Human
Nature
n
Abstract of A Treat ise
of
Human
Nature
Essays
Moral Po l i t i ca l
and
Li terary
n Enquiry
Concerning
Human Understanding
n Enquiry Concerning the
principles
of MoraIs
The
Natural History
of
Relig ion
Dialogues
Concerning Natural Religion
The Life
o f
David Hume Esquire,
wri t ten
by
himself
The Letters of
David
Hume
New Letters of
David
Hume.
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T BLE
OF CONTENTS
page
ABBREVIATIONS
T BLE
OF
CONTENTS
Chapter
l
INTRODUCTION
1
THE
B CKGROUND
4
A TREATISE OF HUM N N TURE
33
IV
ESSAYS
64
ENQUIRIES
98
VI
THE N TUR L
HISTORY
OF
RELIGION 137
VII
DIALOGUES
CONCERNING N TUR L
RELIGION 18
V
CONCLUSION
223
BIBLIOGRAPHY
233
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CH PTER
l
INTRODUCTION
This
disse r ta t ion seeks to determine the nature and
signi f icance of Hume s
rel igious views.
To tha t end, t seeks
to examine Hume s
works
on rel igion,
as weIl as
the
refer -
ences to
re l igion that are
to be
found
in
his various
other
wri t ings.
Hume s
re l igious
thinking
had i t s roots
in
his back-
ground.
His
personal convict ions,
his
philosophical
pr in-
ciples
as
weIl as the rel igious
reflect ions
of
his age were
major
factors in tha t background. Chapter
I I
seeks to review
the
influences exerted by those various factors on
Hume
In
the process, t also seeks to suggest
sorne
basic approaches to
the interpreta t ion
of
his re l igious thought .
The
main conclu-
sions
tha t
emerge from
tha t
chapter
are
as
follows:
a)
Hume s
personal convictions
were largely negative;
though he
had a long
standing
in te res t in
re l igion
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he was
not
incl ined to appreciate
i t
much .
b)
A
broad appeal
to
experience
tha t
is
in
harmony
with
his
general
philosophical
outlook can
be
seen
in
ume s
rel igious thought . However,
his
rel igious
re -
f lect ions
do
not exemplify a rigo rous
appl icat ion
of his
epistemological pr inc ip les . Sorne scholars
have
advanced
the
l a t t e r
point of
view. The
c la r i f i ca t ion
of
the
re l a -
t ionship
between
Hume s
philosophical
and
rel igious
views
doeu not seem
to admit of
simple solut ion in terms
of
sorne
overal l formula. The disse r ta t ion
as
a whole i s in a sense
involved
in the
invest igat ion of th is
i ssue .
c)
Hume s
rel igious views
had
a
specia l
connection with the
cl imate of opinion tha t
prevailed
in his t ime.
His
argu-
ments
had
a
specia l
bearing on the
de is t i c
controversy
of the eighteenth century. ume also adopted
the
tech-
niques
as weIl as the conventions of contemporary heterodox
writers
on re l ig ion . He masked his negative
views on
r e l i -
gion with formaI
and
specious affirmationB
of be l i e f .
The
discussion
re la t ing
to
Hume s
background (Chapter
I I , is followed by an examination of his re levant writ ings.
Five chapters are devoted to
t is
examination and they are
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arranged
according
to
the
dates
of publication of Hume s
works.
The
major
aim
in
those
chapters
i s
to
s t a t e Hume s views
on
matters
tha t concern
re l ig ion . Where appropriate, some
assess-
ment
of the s ignif icance
of
those
views
i s also attempted.
The conclusion
(Chapter
VIII) involves a summing up of
Hume s
general posi t ion on re l igion with specia l emphasis on his
stand on theism.
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CH PTER
I I
THE B CKGROUND
n
understanding
of the
various
influences
tha t
con-
t r ibuted
to
mould a wri t e r s opinions on a
given
subject is
often an interest ing and a necessary prel iminary to the study
of those opinions themselves. s is to be expected, th i s is
very much the
case
with
David
Hume.
His
rel igious views,
with
respect
to
the i r or ig ins ,
development and ar t icula t ion , may
fa i r ly
be said
to have had the i r roots
in
a complex background.
The factors tha t served
to de termine tha t
b c k g ~ o u n d
were
in-
deed diverse . And in view of the objects of the
present
study,
t would in any event be weIl
to seek
sorne
appreciation
of
the i r
re la t ive worth. The observations of
E.C.
Mossner, the
widely acclaimed
contemporary biographer of Hume, have a par-
t i cu lar
appropriateness
in th is context , and as such are worthy
of
ci ta t ion .
Interpreta t ion of
a philosophical
tex t , as in -
deed
of a I l
texts , (he
remarks),
must der
ive primari ly from
4
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5
the
tex t i t s e l f .
Yet,
especia l ly
in
the
case
of ear l ie r
philosophers, the reader may
be assis ted
by secondary
infor-
mation,
various types
of
his tor ica l knowledge,
such
as
the
precise
rneaning of key
words a t the
time
writ ten, the in te l
lec tual
climate of the age, the biography of
the author. l
Consequently, a general inquiry into the background to Hume's
rel igious
opinions
would
be a
convenient and fe l ic i tous s t a r t -
ing point for the
present disser ta t ion .
Hume's rel igious views found
expression
through a
varie ty
of
fu l l length works as well as
l i t e ra ry pieces.
Sorne
of these
clear ly
t r ea t
of
rel igious subjec ts .
2
But evidence
such
as
would be germane for the current inquiry may
also
be
gleaned from his ostensibly non-religious works. Hence these
1
3 1 f 1 t t d
t t e r w r ~ t ~ n s are a so 0 re evance 0
any
a emp e
ac-
count of Hume's re l igious views tha t stakes a claim to a meas-
ure
of
completeness. In
his
various
discussions on
re l igion,
ume ra re ly re fe rs to his
rnany contemporaries
or immediate
pre-
decessors who
propounded
a
wide
variety of
theories
on tha t
complex
theme. Nor has he
even
sought to clar i fy
his
own
rel igious convict ions in
a
for thr ight
fashion.
These charac-
t e r i s t i c s ,
wh
en taken in conjunction with Hurne s generally
asceptic
and detached
mode of exposit ion,S tend
to
convey
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6
the impression tha t his rel igious reflect ions are
far
re
moved from the influences
of his
time and milieu.
That
im-
press ion
however,
as the sequel would
endeavour to
show, is
grea t ly misleading. Moreover,
Hume s posi t ion
as a
prominent
thinker
with a specif ie perspective on the nature and
basis
of
knowledge
serves to l o u d ~ i s s u e
as
to the background from
which
his
rel igious views may
be sa id
to
have
emerged. For one may
be easi ly
led
to suppose that
his
rel igious opinions are
based
upon
or re f l ec t
his
philosophical standpoint
in
a di rec t man
ner.
This presumption
in
turn is
an
over simplif icat ion
and
harbours many
inaecuracies .
The
foregoing circumstances then
seem
to
afford strong reasons for
a general
invest igat ion into
the
backdrop of ideas
and movements arnidst
which Hume s
r e l i
gious views
came to be developed
and
ar t icu la ted . Such an in
vest igat ion, besides
supplying
an indispensable biographical
and
his tor ica l
dimension to the present
study, may also
con-
t r ibute in sorne
measure
towards
the
c la r i f i ca t ion of
those
ambiguit ies
and
inconsistencies
such as are peculiar to
Hume s
writ ings
on re l ig ion .
6
Hume
was
born
and
ra ised in
eighteenth century
Scot-
land, his
l i f e spanning the
period between 1711 and
1776. s
has
been
already
noted, t
i s d i f f i cu l t to arrive a t a precise
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understanding
of the myriad
influences
tha t
would
have
been
instrumental
in
fashioning
his
re l igious
opinions
on
the basis
of
his
writings alone. His
autobiographical
sketch of sorne
f ive
pages,
apar t
from
i t s high compression,
s defic ient in
references to the
subject
of
re l ig ion .
Thus, an
attempted
inqui ry
into the
background of
Hume s
rel igious views must
needs reach
out for
wider sources
in
order
to
obtain an
adequate
understanding.
There
are three
sa l ien t
factors
tha t
meri t
at tent ion
in
an
inquiry of tha t
sor t . These
r e la te
to
l) the or ig in and growth
of
Hume s rel igious convictions,
(2) the philosophical
outlook
with which ume came to be
widely
ident i f ied,
and
(3) the
s t a t e of
rel igious opinion tha t
prevai led
in
Bri ta in
during
the
eighteenth century. The pos-
s ib le
signi f icance of
each
of
these
factors to
Hume s
re l i -
gious views cannot be rated as
of
equal
value.
Hence
t
s
important to de termine
the i r re la t ive
worth by an examination
of
the
re levant evidence.
1 . Personal Background.
Hume s
personal
rel igious convict ions,
( in
a
posi t ive
o r
negative
sense),
may fa i r ly
be
said
to have
played sorne
par t in fashioning
the
views tha t he expressed through his
7/21/2019 The Religious Views of David Hume.
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8
writ ings.
His in teres t
in
re l igion has of ten been charac-
ter ized
as
a
primary
one,
going
back
ta h is
early
youth.
8
Though
Hume s
major works on re l igion were published in the
l a t t e r
par t of
his l i t e ra ry
career ,
an
in teres t
in
matters
r e la t ing to
re l ig ion
was very
much in
evidence even in the
preparatory s tages of
tha t career . The markedly auto-
biographical l e t t e r to
Dr.
Cheyne,
for
instance, suggests an
acquaintance
with
the writ ings of
French
mystics.
9
Moreover,
re f lec t ions on the
philosophical
aspects of miracles
appears
to have
engaged his at tent ion
as ear ly as 1737,
when
the doc
.
10
t r ines of the Treat ise
were
jus t receiving formulat1on.
Mossner s research in to Hume s ear ly
memoranda
of
the
period
between 1729 and 1740 also tends to throw l igh t on the young
phi losopher s
concern
with
a
var ie ty
of issues
which
are
re le
I l
vant to
theology.
ume himself, in a
l e t t e r
to Gilbert
12
El l io t of Minto, recal led an ear ly record of
h is
own author-
ship, (writ ten
before the age
of twenty,
and subsequently de-
stroyed), in
which the f luctuat ing s ta te
of
his rel igious
opinions w i l S ~ di l igent ly de ta i led . These
ear ly indicat ions
of
i n t e res t
in
re l igion
on
Hume s
par t
are
confirmed by
Boswell.
In
his account of the
l as t
interview with Hume Boswell has
noted the dying phi losopher s own
confession
to a zealous
pract ice of re l ig ion
in
youth.
13
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Hume s
in teres t in
the bel ief and the
pract ice
of re i i -
gion
seems
to
have
declined
in his
mature
years.
In
his
auto-
biographical
sketch, composed
short ly
before his
death,
Hume
s ignif icant ly enough, passed
over
the subject of personal
re l igious convictions without comment or
reference. This
may
perhaps
be
taken
as
an
indication of
a
se t t led
apathy
to
re l i -
gious
be l i e f For t might be argued tha t
a bel iever
of what-
ever
descrip t ion
would
hardly
fa i l
to
re fe r
to
his
convict ions,
i f he had
any, in
a
composition
tha t was
intended
to
be
his
l a s t
testament. The
negative character of
Hume s
views during
the closing years of his l i f e
is
also
borne
out
by Boswell s
account of
his l as t personal interview
with
the philosopher.
Boswell found
him re ject ing
immortality and expressing an
ant i -
pathy
to
re l igion
general ly.14
Thus, one
may
weIl
claim
tha t
with advancing years, ume carne
to lose
or
shed
his
ear l i e r
be l i e fs However t
is noteworthy
tha t
since
the
circumstances
tha t led to the
transformation
are
not
ful ly documented, one s
reconstruction of them can
only
be in sorne
sense
conjectural .
Nevertheless,
t
might be helpful to seek an understanding of
th is
aspect of
Hume s
personal
background.
Two r ~ s o n s
are
of in i t i a l relevance in accounting for
the change in Hume s
be l ie f s
The
f i r s t
one amongst them may
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10
appropr ia te ly
be termed
i n t e l l e c tua l .
Hume' s s tud ies and r e -
f l ec t io n s could have served
to
undermine, and in due course
whi t t l e
away,
h i s once
he ld convic t ions .
His cont inued devo-
h
f
15 h l h d l
t ~ o n on ~ s own con e s s ~ o n was to p
osop
y an genera
l ea rn ing . The a t t r ac t i o n was
to
secu la r , not theo log ica l
16
17
wri t ings .
Boswel l ' s
account t r aces the l oss
o f
b e l i e f to
a
sp ec i f i e cause: Hume's perusal of Locke
and
Clarke . That
however
could weIl
be a
dramat ic
over s impl i f i ca t ion o f an
ex-
tended
process in which
the pe rusa l o f
t hese
authors
was per -
haps an impor tant
cont r ibu tory
element . I f one
poss ib le
reason
for Hume's estrangement from re l ig ion thus appears to have
stemmed from the
opera t ion
o f in terna l
f a c t o r s , then
the
othe r , s ig n i f i can t ly enough,
had i t s source in external fac-
t o r s .
Calv in i s t
Ch r i s t i an i ty
which
preva i led in the Scot t i sh
environment
o f
Hume's
youth has been
widely
r ep resen ted
as
a
gr im and
cheer less
forro of r e l i g io n .
Greig
18
charac te r izes
the
Calv in i s t creed as a narrow and
l ega l i s t i c
one, common-
place a t i t s b es t and r epu ls ive a t i t s wors t .
Kemp Smith
and
19
Mossner
have
also expressed s imi la r opinions
as to the gloomy
s t r i c t n es s
o f t h i s
forro o f Ch r i s t i an i ty
in the dawning
decades
o f the e igh teen th century. The t enor of i t s t each ings and
the
import
of i t s prac t i ces are ap t ly
de ta i l ed
by the
Church
h i s -
20
t o r i an ,
J .A.
C:unpbell.
Calvinism, according to t h i s
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I l
author i ty, depicted God as an implacable despot,
swift
to
wrath
I t
he Id
by
the
doctrines of e lec t ion
and reproba-
t ion in a I l
the i r
severi ty
Both in
church
and
in
home
the
most re lent less discipl ine
was
maintained. The ob-
servance of the Sabbath was
enforced
with pena l t ies . Thus,
once the unsavoury features of Hume's ear ly
rel igious
milieu
are recognized, the
presumption
tha t
he
revolted
or
reacted
against t in
l a te r
years becomes highly
Plausible.
21
Super-
s t i t ion and enthusiasm the so-cal led twin
forms
of false
re l ig ion
against
which ume repeatedly fulminated
through h is
~ r i o u s writ ings may surely be descried in cer ta in features of
the
r e l i ~ i o n
pract i sed
in the early eighteenth century Scot-
land.
The erosion
of be l ie f
in
Hume's
case
then was
perhaps
not
simply brought about by a scept ical turn of thought fol-
22
lowing upon
his
studies
and ref lec t ions . Greig
assigns a
s ign i f i can t
place to the foregoing factor in accounting for
Hume's antipathy to re l ig ion . According
to
th is biographer,
the
harsher aspects of
Scot t ish
Calvinism experienced in his
youth l e f t i t s mark on
the
philosopher as a strong
emotional
resentment. This he
carr ied
in to
his
mature l i f e as
an
un-
resolved host i l i ty or a complex. Greig 's
claims
are
of
course
in the nature of a reconstruction and as such
are
in
the f inal analysis , conjectural . However, while the exact
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12
t ruth is hardly at ta inable
in these matters, t
is indeed pos-
s ib le to suspect a connection of
sorbs
between the pecul iar-
i t i e s of Hume's ear ly re l igious milieu and his
l a t e r
hos-
t i l i t y to
re l igion
such as is manifest in his wri t ings. For
th is host i l i ty , as several
c r i t i c s
have
noted, often
outsteps
the
bounds of reasoned disagreement such as is permissible in
l
h
h 23
earned p ~ l o s o p ~ c a l debate.
I t has an acerbi ty, which,
though sometimes
masked,
nevertheless betrays an animus.
24
And
tha t ch aracter is t ic apparently was
not
merely the outgrowth of
a freethinking
temper, but ra ther
stemmed from sorne
features
of
Hume's early
re l igious background. AlI n a I l ,
the negative
features of
Hume's
re l igious
standpoint may thus
be
viewed
against two
pert inent
contexts. The f i r s t
of these
is of
course
the scept ical outlook
tha t
was
nurtured
by his own
reading
and ref lec t ion .
The
second, in terms
of
the reasoning
advanced
in the
foregoing paragraphs
may
weIl be character-
th b 5 h
~ z e d
as e resu l t of an ~ n f l u e n c e y r e a c t ~ o n
to
t e
Scot t ish
Calvinism
of
the eighteenth
century.
Hume
was frequently suspected
of
heresy
during
his
adul t
l i fe , and sorne
of
his
contemporaries denounced
him
as
an inf ide l
and
an
atheis t . Such
insinuations came
to
the fore
especia l ly
when he
offered hirnself as
an
applicant for teaching
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13
posi t ions in
the univers i t ies
of Edinburgh and Glasgow.
I t
i s
noteworthy tha t
in
both instances conservative
cler ica l
opposit ion prevailed,
and
the
philosopher 's academic ambi-
t ions
were
thwarted. In the
controversies
tha t ensued the
announcement
of Hume's
candidacy,
the allegedly
IIheretical
implications
of
the
Treat ise
were par t icu lar ly prominent.
26
Charges
of
a more serious
nature
came up during the years
1755 to
1756.
In the course of tha t period, the General
As-
sembly of
the
Church of
Scotland
considered the
p
r inciples
subservice of re l ig ion and morality
such as
were supposed
to
be implic i t
in Hume's writ ings, and even debated the des i r -
b
l t f h 27 Th h h f
J J Y
0
excommunJ catJ ng J m oug t e J.nterventJ.on
0
the
moderate fac t ion within
the Church
i t s e l f
helped to stave
of f f inal action in th is matter, the inc ident serves to i l lus -
t ra te c lear ly
Hume's
posi t ion vis--vis
the or thodox
Chris-
t i an i ty
of
his
milieu.
In
recognising
the
foregoing fac ts , it is also impor-
t an t to note
however,
tha t there
i s no for thr ight
profession
of atheism by Hume
in any
of h is
writ ings.
On
the contrary,
his
rel ig ious
as
weIl
as
his
other
writings
abound
with
def i -
8
n i te avowals
of bel ief
in God.
His
au
tobiographical
sketch,
( i t
might
be argued), is af ter a I l only
r e t i cen t
on
the
matter
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14
of re l ig ious
convict ions;
t
affords
no evidence of
atheism.
Moreover, even Boswell 's
account only
records
Hume's
negative
a t t i tudes towards re l ig ion
and
immortality;
t
does not re fe r
to the spec i f ie
issue
o f theism. Could ume
then
be credi ted
with spme form o f t he i s t i c bel ief , even in a tenuous
sense?
A considered answer to t h i s important question must be based
upon a careful
examination of
his wri t ings such
as
wil l be
attempted
in
the
various
chapters of
th i s d i sse r ta t ion tha t
are
to
fol low. Nevertheless, t would be
weIl
to note
here
tha t in view of the facts
of
his background
already
referred
to,
t
s indeed di f f icu l t to
cred i t
ume with any
recog-
nisable species of Chris t ian fa i th . In hi s
extended
personal
29
correspondence, in which
many
matters
o f
int imate
concern
were
ai red ,
ume
gave
no
indicat ion of a profess ion of Chris-
t i an i ty , o r
indeed
of a subscrip t ion
to
any amended
form
of
theism.
Even
among his congenial
fr iends ,
the liberal-rninded,
moderate
clergy of Scotland, (with whom ume maintained close
re la t ionships ,
he hardly t r i ed
to
discuss
h is
re l ig ious
convic-
t ions . On
the
contrary, he seems to have considered re l ig ion
as
a topic of discord,
(owing,
presumably,
to
hi s
strong
se t -
t l ed negative opinions),
and
to have avoided discussing t
a l -
30
together .
In
terms o f the evidence adduced so far , t seems
fa i r then
to
consider
ume
as
essent ia l ly
a man of negative
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15
rel ig ious
convictions.
e was not an atheis t His posi t ion
on God in re la t ion
to
his own convictions was
perhaps similar
to
nineteenth century agnosticism.
3l
However, in philosoph-
i ca l discussion he seems
to
have
veered
towards the
admission
of
a
l imited, at tenuated type of
theism.
3
I t
is
weIl nigh
impossible to determine
whether
the lIattenuated theism
that
emerges
out
of his
philosophical
discussion had any roots in
Hume's personal convictions. A review of
the
available facts
of
his personal background
seems to
suggest
tha t
he
was
essen-
t i a l l y a person of secular outlook, beref t of any
durable
r e l i -
gious sentiments.
2.
Philosophical Background.
ume
occupies
a
dis t inct ive place within the
Bri t i sh
philosophical t rad i t ion The philosophical standpoint with
which
he is widely associated
was
f i r s t promulgated in
his
Treatise which was published in 1739.
In
tha t work, ume en-
deavoured to se t
forth
a new
approach to
philosophy. He
claimed that his method was based upon lIexperience and observa-
tion,II
33
and admitted percept ion as the primary source
of
knowl-
edge. The central
features of
th is rnethod are
indeed worth
noting. Perceptions, (the primary source of
knowledge),
were
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16
sa i d
to r e so lve
themselves in to two
d i s t i n c t kinds :
v i z . im-
press ions
and
i deas .
34
Impressions were charac te r ized by
the
grea te r
force
and
l i v e l in es s with
which
they presen ted
them-
se lves
to the mind. Ideas were markedly d ef i c i en t i n
those
q u a l i t i e s , and were weaker
percep t ions .
Impress ions ,
more-
over,
enjoyed a pos i t i on
o f
p r i o r i t y over
ideas : t h a t i s ,
the l a t t e r were der ived from impress ions .
Both
impress ions
as weIl as ideas admit ted of d iv i s ion as
simple
or complex.
Complex impressions
were formed from
the
aggrega t ion
of simple
impress ions . The
sarne
he ld t rue
o f
ideas .
35
Hume conceived
the
working
out o f
t h ~ d e t a i l s and
the
impl icat ions
of the fo re -
going
epis temological scheme
as
the
es sen t i a l
t a sk
of
the new
science of
man which
he sought to
br ing
to l i r e .
36
AlI
branches of learning, according
to
him,
were r e l a t ed
to
the
37
sc ience
of
man. Hence, the
place
ass igned to t was fun-
damenta l . Hume he ld t h a t improvements in
the
science o f man
n e c e ~ s a r i l y involved a grea te r knowledge of the operat ions of
the human understanding and
tha t
such improvements
were
s i g n i f -
i c a n t l y
re levan t for a I l i n q u i r i e s . He s t re ssed t h a t t h i s was
l l d l 38
p a r t ~ c u
a r
y so
w ~ t h
regar to na tura l
r e
~ g ~ o n
ow t seems na tura l
to
suppose
t h a t
Hume's
re l ig ious
views
were based upon
and
r e f l ec t ed h i s phi losophical
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17
standpoint . s i s perhaps apparent from the foregoing c la r i -
f ica t ions
ume
himself seems to have suggested sorne such
r e la -
t ion . However, the moot
point
is as to whether tha t
re la t ion
is a
d i rec t and
continuing
one. Did
Hume
in
other words,
con-
c ious ly
apply his philosophical principles to his re l igious
thought
so as to bring
the l a t t e r
into
harmony with his
basic
epistemological scheme?
The
opinions
of wri ters
who
have
in
sorne
sense addressed
themselves
to
th is
problem
seem
to
indi-
cate
a considerable
divergence.
Thus, Lesl ie
Stephen was
incl ined to bel ieve
tha t Hume's di f fe rent works
on
episte-
mology and re l ig ion were character ised by a def in i te uni ty
of
thought . e noted
tha t from
his various
wri t ings, the Treat ise
of
Human Nature, the Dialogues
Concerning
Natural Religion, the
Philosophical
Essays
and
the
Natural
History
of
Religion,
we
may
frame
a
complete
and logical ly coordinated system of argu
ment.,,39 This seems to
imply
tha t
the
same basic pr inciples
of
philosophy
are
di l igent ly ca rr ied over from
one work
to
another. However, the view
advanced
by Stephen
is
a t
odds
with
the judgement of more
recent,
and perhaps more meticulous
. lb . 40 d 41 h .
s c h o l a r s h ~ p .
Thus,
Se
y B ~ g g e
an Passmore
ave
g ~ v e n
4
much prominence to the inconsistencies in Hume's
writ ings.
The
prevalence
of such inconsistencies
would appear to undermine
Stephen's
in te rpre ta t ion of the
relat ionship
between Hume's
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18
philosophical
and rel ig ious
works.
Moreover, the
remarks of
Stephen's contemporary,
T.H.
Huxley, are particu:l.arly in teres t -
ing
in
th is context because
of a
contrary stand
which they
suggest .
As regards the central issue of
re l igion,
namely
theism, Huxley did not see a def in i te connecting l ink
in
Hume's successive works. He noted tha t i f we
turn
from the
Natural
History of Religion,
to
the
Treat ise , the Enquiry
and
the
Dialogues,
the s tory
of
what happened
to
the ass laden
with
sa l t , who
took to the water i r re s i s t ib ly
suggests
i t s e l f .
I43
I t
i s indeed
di f f icu l t
to
maintain tha t
Hume's
various writings
on
rel ig ion
exemplify
a forthright and s t r ingent application
of
h i s philosophical pr inc ip les . Those writ ings, (and Hume's
rel ig ious views
generally) ,
were undeniably
informed or in -
fluenced by his
philosophical
tenets . But
the presence of
a
direct
l ink
between
his
philosophical and rel ig ious views i s
not
an impression tha t i s
immediately
generated by a
perusal of
his
works on re l ig ion . Sorley
was perhaps r ight
when he
remarked
tha t
Hume,
in h is
treatment
of
concrete
problems,
came
to apply his
philosophical
principles in an emasculated
44
form. For,
the terminology of
l impressions l and l
ideas,
l so
centra l to
his
theory
of
knowledge,
hardly enters into the dis -
cussion in any
of
Hume s y,,orks on re l ig ion . What
one
encounters
. .
45
in them a t
most
a loose appeal to e x p e r ~ e n c e
This of
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19
course is in rnarked
contrast
to the way in
which
tha t terrni-
nology
i s
applied
in
other
areas
of his inquiry, l ike tha t of
ethics
for instance.
I t i s
s igni f icant tha t both A.H.
Basson
46
and
B.M.
Laing
in
the i r studies on
Hurne s thought
were
incl ined to disregard the existence of a direct connection be-
tween Hurne s episternological
and rel igious views. In
discuss-
ing
the Dialogues,
A.H. Basson
has
noted tha t
the
most
in te r
est ing
feature
of
Hurne s treatrnent
of
re l ig ion was the
aban-
donrnent of
his usual analyt ical rnethod. And in comnenting on
the NER B.M. Laing has discounted the
poss b i l i ty tha t
the
author s airn
in
tha t work was to t r ea t re l ig ion by applying the
consequences
of
his
theory
of knowledge to it
The foregoing
observat ions point
to
a
reluctance
on
the
par t
of
several scholars to approach Hume s r l i g i o ~ s
thought sirnply through
his
philosophical pr inc ip les .
As has
been
already suggested, the
direct
applicat ion
of his philo-
sophical
pr inc ip les
to his
re l igious thought
is not an over t
feature
of Hurne s actual
procedure.
The
re la t ionship
between
these
two aspects
of
his ref lect ions
appears
to
be
rather corn-
plex and variable . The scholar ly opinions thus
far
ci ted
tend
to
lend
support
to th is stand. In view
of
these consider-
at ions ,
it
would
be
foolhardy to
atternpt
an overal l
account of
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20
the relat ionship between Hume s philosophical and re l igious
views
a t this s tage.
This
disserta t ion
as whole,
in
i t s
various
chapters, shal l be addressing i t s e l f to the c la r i f i ca -
t ion
of
tha t i ssue .
3. Historical Background.
Hume s philosophical
contribution
to the theory of
knowledge
is
undeniably
re la ted in broad his tor ica l sense,
to the para l l e l contributions of
his
predecessors
in
the
Brit ish empirical
t rad i t ion namely John Locke and George
Berkeley. However, t is
important
to note tha t these two
thinkers do
not stand
simi lar ly
related to Hume s
re l igious
thought.
ow due to
the
great
s ignif icance
of Hume s epi s-
temological invest igat ions, the h is to r ica l
background
to t
has also
tended
to receive
prominence
in manner
suggestive
of
i t s val id i ty to a I l
areas of
Hume s work. But this dis-
to r t s the rea l s t a t e of af fa i rs and can hardly be accepted.
47
For
the proper background to
Hume s
rel igious views is
offered
by
the complex
strands of
thought re la t ing to
natural r e l i -
gion and deism tha t const i tuted an absorbing controversy in
eighteenth century Bri ta in . I t i s
mainly against th is
back-
ground tha t Hume s
rel igious
writ ings receive the i r wider
meaning and
signi f icance.
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21
The
great
relevance of the his tor ica l se t t ing in which
systems
of ide
as
were
formulated,
and
the
atmosphere
in
which they were sustained, to
the
invest igat ion of those
ideas themselves
may
hardly be
gainsaid. The eighteenth
century in which ume l ived and wrote
was
the Age
of
the
Enlightenment. The welter of
ide
as and
socia l forces
which
enveloped
him
had a l l
the markings
of
what
has
subsequently
to
b k d
48
e nown
as
mo
ern1ty.
The
in te l lec tual preoccupations of
tha t age tended, character is t ica l ly enough, to
centre
around
sorne cardinal concepts.
Perhaps
.the
most noteworthy
amongst
these
were
nature,
l IIreason, l
sentiment,
l IIhumanit
y
and
II
pe
rfect ibi l i ty .1I
49
A constant
appeal
was made by wri ters in
the
eighteenth century to such
concepts.
That century 's con-
t r ibut ions
to
the
domains of l i t e ra tu re philosophy,
pol i t ics
as
well
as
re l igion
offer much evidence to a t te s t tha t facto
A posi t ion
of
preeminence was occupied by two
of
those con-
cepts : viz nature l and IIreason. l In his philosophical as
well as
re l igious thought, ume made a conscious and laboured
attempt to
al ign
himself on
the side of nature .
I
Signif-
icant ly
enough,
his two most important works on re l ig ion ( the
N R and
the Dialogues),
carry tha t
epi thet
in
the i r very
t i t l e s
thereby underl ining an unmistakable debt to the
sp i r i t of
the
age in
which they were wri t ten . Indeed the
term
nature had
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22
Il
t d
b l f Il l b l 50
6 eS1ra e
connotat1ons
0
1nte
ectua accepta 1 1 ty .
Writers o f a I l persuas ions , Chr i s t i ans , d e i s t s as weIl
as
a t h e i s t s ,
sought
unfa i l ing ly
to
acknowledge
the au thor i ty of
n a tu re .
While Hume
ex t r ac ted the fu l l polemical advantages
which
the
concept o f
nature
tended
to
ca r ry in the eigh teen th
century in
favour
o f his own re l ig ious opin ions , he
sought
to
undermine the
p lace assigned
to reason in the
thought
of the
51
same cen tury .
It may
be worthwhile to r eca l l t h a t
Hume's
oppos i t ion to reason i s recur ren t
in
a I l h i s i n q u i r i e s . In
h i s
theory o f
knowledge
it wassubord ina ted to sensa t ion and
h ab i t ;
and
i n e th ic s
it
was
subordinated
to f ee l ing and s en t i -
ment. The same a t t i t u d e
was woven i n to
the i n t e rp re t a t i o n o f
r e l i g i o n . Hume's
two
major
works on
r e l i g io n exemplify t h i s .
The
N R
t r aced the or ig ins of r e l i g io n
to the
fee l ings o f f ea r .
In
the
Dialogues , a famous r a t i o n a l argument
for
t he i sm- - the
argument from
design--was shown to be var ious ly con tes tab le ,
and f i n a l l y of l imi ted v a l i d i t y as a
proof
of theism. AlI in
a I l ,
Hume's
re l ig ious views may be sa id
to
express a p a r t i a l i t y
towards nature
and a h o s t i l i t y towards
reason .
1I
To
t h a t ex-
t en t ,
they
appear to
r e f l e c t the
out look and
the
a t t i t u d es o f
the
age .
The concepts o f
nature and
reason a l so had an
important
p lace in the d e i s t i c cont roversy o f the e igh teen th
cen tury .
Hume's i n t e r e s t in the
l i t e ra tu re
of t h a t
controversy
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23
52
has been represented as a long and continuing one. AlI
his
major
contributions
to
the subject of
re l igion
had
a
sure
. . f .
t t
th t d 5
3
s ~ g n ~ ~ c a n c e 0
e ~ g een cen
ury e ~ s m
In view
of
these
facts , it would be worthwhile to observe br ief ly the
sa l ien t
54
features of
tha t controversy and
to
note
i t s
'connection
to
Hume's
rel igious
ref lec t ions .
English de is t s
of
the eighteenth century were
generally
inclined to
acknowledge
Lord Herbert
of Cherbury,
(1583-1648)
as
the
father of deism. Herbert 's principles , enunciated in
his
De Veritate (1645),
involved
the acceptance of a Supreme
God, of the
necessity
of
worship in
the
form
of
vi r tue and
piety , of repentence
for sins
and of divine jus t ice and judge-
ment.
These t ru ths Herbert
claimed,
were
common to aI l man-
kind, and were accessible
to
natural reason.
The proponents of
natural
re l igion in
the eighteenth century
drew
the i r inspira-
t ion from
the
foregoing
t ene ts .
The
concept
of a
re l igion
of
nature, universal
in i t s manifestat ions
and
accessible
to
reason was thus brought in to prominence and developed by a suc-
cession of deis t ic
wri te rs .
Foremost among these were
John
Teland (1670-1722), Anthony Collins
(1676-1729 ) and Matthew
Tindal (1657-1733). AlI of them had reached the i r maturity
during
Hume's youth
and, as has already
been noted, there is
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24
reason to believe tha t
ume was acquainted with
the i r wri t ings .
In
any
case,
Hume's
own
works
on
re l igion
had
a
def in i te
bear-
ing on
deism.
Through those works
he
challenged the deis t ic
opinions. The N R for instance
offered
a
di f fe rent view of
the
origin of
re l ig ion in human nature
to tha t
propounded by
the deis t s .
And
the Dialogues subjected
the
favourite deis t ic
argument
for
theism,
the argument from design,
to
a
searching
cr i t i c i sm.
55
Hence,
Hume's
contributions to
re l igion
have
come
to be
viewed
as
an at tack on eighteenth century
deism.
56
Since Hume's
rel ig ious works were undoubtedly
contro-
57
vers ia l
and were widely reputed
to
be heret ica l
t
would
be
worthwhile to remember tha t
tolerance
which exis ted in
eighteenth
century Bri ta in
had def in i te l imi ts . Dissent or
cr i t ic i sm in
matters
of re l ig ion
of ten faced
serious of f ic ia l
or cler ica l opposition u r l ~ tha t
century.
Hence, most
heterodox wri ters
of the time sought to present the i r
views in
disguised forms. Mossner has
characterized
th i s s i tua t ion as
a matter
of signif icance for consideration
by
students of the
d
1 58
e l s t l c
wrltlngs
ln part lcu are
For
the
heterodox writers
were driven to adopt
a
host of evasive techniques
which
were
aimed
a t
circumventing charges
of
blasphemy
and the consequent
penal t ies . Mossner's tabula t ion of these evasive techniques
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inc luded i rony r a i l l e r y , f i c t i t i o u s
ana logies ,
use
of the
dia logue
and
e p i s t o l a t o r y forms, cla ims to be C hr i s t i a n d e i s t s ,
pseudonimity ,
anonyrnity, e t c . t i s
i n t e r e s t i ng
to
no te
t h a t
t hese devices
of
e v ~ i o n are apparent in Hume t oo . A suc-
cess ion o f
c r i t i c s have a t t e s t e d to
the ex i s t ence o f
i rony in
, 59 .
ume s
wr1t1ngs .
In
sorne
1ns tances , he a l so
used f1ct1t10us
l
. .
60
ana og1es
to cover
h1S
a t tacks
on re l1g1on.
He employed
t he dia logue form
with notab le success in
h i s d i scuss ion
of
t he i s sue of
the ism. Hume
never at tacked
Chr i s t i a n i t y
d i r e c t l y
and
openly .
In
f ac t , t he most
damaging aspects
of
c r i t i q u e of
r e l i g i on were always presented
amidst pious
pro fess ions
o f
b e l i e f .
61
Many o f
wri t ings were
a l so
publ ished
62
anonyrnously. And he
mainta ined
a pseudonimity
of
so r t s
in
d iscuss ing the
v i t a l
i s sues o f r e l i g i on
by employing
63
f i c t i t i o u s spokesmen to
propound
his views.
Thus,
the re
could be little d i spu te as regards
the
f ac t t h a t Hume
observed
the
conven t ions
o f
h i s
age,
and
covered h i s doubts and a t -
64
tacks
on
r e l i g i on with
sorne
semblance
of conformity .
Hume's spec ious pro fess ions
o f
b e l i e f indeed tended
to
v e i l
h i s
ac tua l
views.
But such
pro fess ions ,
as
Anton
Thomsen
65
has r i g h t l y i nd ica ted ,
were
addi t ions commanded by
t ime
and
c ircumstances . An apprec ia t ion
of
t h i s aspec t o f Hume's back-
ground
i s
of
gr e a t
importance for
the i n t e r p r e t a t i on
of h i s
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26
~ l i g i o u s wr i t i ngs . However, in terms of the
foregoing
c l a r i f i c a t i o n s
it could be argued t h a t
these express ions
of
conformi ty
do
no t r ep resen t Hume s
r e a l
views .
In
pro fess ing to be a be l iever or a defender of or thodox
t e ne t s
ume
was
only making a
formaI
and
p o l i t i c bow
to
t he es tab l i shed re l ig ion of
h i s
t ime .
66
Factors
stemming from
the
var ious aspec ts
o f
Hurne s
background are of much re levance to
an evaluat ion
o f h i s
re l ig ious views. Those views were
pa r t i c u l a r l y
in f luenced
by h i s own
nega t ive
convic t ions and
the
re l ig ious opin ions
o f
h i s
t ime . However,
an adequate understanding of
h i s
r e l i g i ous thought can
only
proceed from
an ac tua l
examinat ion
of h i s wr i t i ngs .
t
would
be
appropr ia te
then
a t th i s
poin t
to
turn to t h a t t a sk .
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NOTES
TO
CHAPTER
I I
1 . Philosophy
and Biography:
The Case of David
Hume
(The Philosophical Review, Vol. LIX, 1950),
p .
184.
2 . Hume wrote only two ful l - length,
sustained
studies
on
rel igion,
viz . NHR (1757; original ly
designed as
a
const i tuent of the col lect ion of writings ent i t l ed
The
Four
Dissertat ions ) ; and the Dialogues 1779i
published posthumously.)
The
following
essays
are of
specif ic
rel ig ious
import:
Of
Superst i t ion
and
Enthusiasm
(1742);
Of
Suicide
(1783);
Of
the
Immortality
of the Soul
(1783)
3 . In
th is class
may be
included
Hume1s f i r s t
major
philosophical work, the Treat ise (1739), and the sub-
sequent EHU (1748), as weIl as the EMP (1751).
In
the Treat ise ,
among
others, the discussion on the
immaterial i ty of the
soul has a
part icular
bea:rng
on rel igion.
(Book I ,
Part
IV, Section v .
Similar ly ,
among
others, the
discussions
centering around miracles
and
part icular
providence
in
EHU
have
defini te
s ign i f
icance
to the
subject of the
present
disser ta t ion .
(Sec.tions
X and
XI)
4 . Among
the
few rare exceptions are the following
passing
references:
Bu'cler,
(in
the
introduction to
the Treatise, p. 6);,
Cudworth,
Newton, Locke
and
Clarke EHU,
Section VII,
Part I , p . 73, and also NHR,
p .
64, in a
footnote);
Til lotson,
EHU, Section X, p . 109). However, only
the
l a s t two
of these references have been
made in
the context of a discussion re la t ing
to
re l ig ion .
5 .
See,
Norman Kemp
Smith:
Hume IS Dialogues
Concerning
Natural
Religion, Introduction,
p .
1. Cf.
H.E. Root:
The Natural History of Religion,
Introduction,
pp. 16,
18.
27
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28
6.
These r e la te mainly to Hume s
stand
on
the
exis tence
of God and the
a t t i tude
to
re l ig ion .
His wri t ings
seem
to
exemplify
expressions
o f
both
be l i e f
as
weIl
as
di sbe l i e f . Detai led considerat ion wil l be
given
to t h i s matter in the
subsequent
chapters of
th i s
disse r ta t ion .
7. y
Own Life , (wri t ten
in
1776; published
in 1777.)
8 See, E.C. Mossner: The Life
of
David Hume p .
34;
J . Laird:
Hume s Philosophy
of Human Nature, p .
282;
Henry
D.
Aiken:
Hume s Dialogues Concerning
Natural
Religion, Introduct ion, p .
v i i .
9 .
Let ters
Volume
l
pp.
12-18.
10.
See, Let te r
to
Henry
Home (1737), Let ters
Vol.
l
pp.
23-25.
I l .
E.C.
Mossner:
Hume s
Early Memoranda,
1739-1740
The
C o ~ p l e t e
Text.
Journal
of
the History
of Ideas,
1948, pp. 500-503.
12. Let te rs Vol. l
p .
154.
13. James
B o s w e l l ~ The Last Interview with Hume
(Reprinted
in
Norman Kemp
Smith:
r ia logues
Concerning
Reliqion, p . 76.)
14. Ib id .
15. y Own Life, p . 233 .
16. Ib id . p . 233.
17. Op. c i t . p . 76. See
a lso
E.C. Mossner:
The Life
of David Hume
p .
51.
18. J .Y.T.
G r e ~ g David Hume
pp. 36-43.
19. Norman Kemp Smith: op. c i t .
p .
3;
E.C.
Mossner: op. c i t . p .
33.
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29
20.
Two
Centuries
of the Church
of Scot land,
p .
28.
21. J .Y.T.
Greig
has
t r ied
to reconst ruc t the rel ig ious
aspects
of Hume s early l i f e
on
t h i s ba s i s .
22.
Op.
c i t . , p .
81.
23. Cf.
Basil
Willey: The Eighteenth Century Background,
p . 133.
24. J.Y.T. Greig: op. c i t . , p . 82.
25.
Norman Kemp Smith:
op. c i t . ,
pp. 6-7.
26.
E .C. Mossner: The Life o f
David
Hume chapter
12.
27
Ib id . ,
chapter
25.
28. These however, as
the
sequel
wil l
endeavour to
show,
are la rge ly
formaI,
and offer
l i t t l e
evidence
of
Hume s actua l be l i e f s .
29.
Letters Ed. by
J .Y.T. Greig
(2 vol s . ) ;
ew
Let te rs . Ed.
by R.
Klibansky
and
E.C. Mossner.
30.
In
a
l e t t e r wri t ten in 1761,
Hume asked Hugh
Blai r ,
(a clergyman),
n o t ~ ~ i s e matters
re la t ing to Chr is
t i an i ty during
t he i r
conversa t ions .
Hume
he Id
that
he was
incapable of
ins t ruct ion .
See Let te rs , Vol. l ,
p .
351.
31. Cf. J .
Noxon: Hume s Agnosticism,
(Philosophical
Review, LXXIII, 1964).
32 .
This i s especial ly
suggested
in the Dialogues.
See Chapter
VII I
for an e labora t ion o f t h i s top ic .
33.
Treat i se ,
Vol. l , p s
34. Ib id . , p .
Il
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30
35. Ib id . , pp. 11-16 fo r d e t a i l s o f the bas ic pr inc ip le s .
36.
Ib id . , p . 5 .
37. Ib id . , p .
4 .
38 Ib id . ,
pp.
4-5 .
39.
The
His tory
o f Engl ish
Thouqht
in the
Eighteenth
Century,
Vol. l ,
p . 311.
40.
Hume's Enguir ies , In t roduct ion, p .
v i i
41.
Hume'
s In tent ions ,
p . 1 .
42 . Selby-Bigge and
Passmore were
o f course
r e fe r r
ing to
the
genera l context
o f
Hume's wri t ings r a th e r than
the spec i f i c i s sue of the r e l a t ion between
h is
phi losophica l
and
re l ig ious
views. Never theless , the
lack of un i ty such as was noted by them
has
a de f in i t e
bear ing on
the
present d iscuss ion .
43. Hume, p . 173.
44. W.R. Sor ley :
His tory
o f Engl ish Philosophy, p . 180.
45.
Hume's
remarks on the
immate r ia l i ty
of the soul
(Treat i se , p a r t
IV,
sec t ion v) , which has a re levance
to re l ig ion , cons t i tu te a
noteworthy except ion.
How-
ever,
it occurs
in
a
context of
epis temological
discussion . His discuss ion of the r e l a t ed theme in
the essay, On
the
Immortal i ty
of
the Soul
is
l es s
dependent on
h is
epis temological pr inc ip le s .
46.
A.H. Basson: David Hume, p .
107.
B.M.
Laing: David Hume, p . 176.
47. To t r e a t
Hume's
phi losophy merely in
r e l a t ion
to
the
Engl ish empir ica l
t r ad i t ion ,
as M.S. Kuypers
has
noted, i s to t e l l very littl
about h i s
meaning for
h i s
own t ime or
any o ther .
(Studies in the Eighteenth
Century Background of
Hume's
Empiricism,
p .
v . )
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31
48
Cf. E.C. Mossner: The
Li fe o f David Hume,
p .
3 .
49.
See,
Car l
L. Becker:
The
Heavenly
Ci ty o f
Eighteenth
Century
Philosophers, p .
47; also
B. Willey:
op
c i t .
50. Carl L. Becker: op. c i t . , p . 53.
51.
Cf .
G.R. Cragg: Reason
and Authori
ty in the
18th
Century,
p .
127.
52.
M.S. Kuypers: op.
c i t . , p .
10.
53. See E.C. Mossner: under
IIDeism
in Encyclopaedia
o f
Philosophy.
(Ed. by
Paul
Edwards.)
54.
For de ta i l s see ,
Lesl ie Stephen:
op.
c i t . ,
Vol. l ,
chapters
I I to IV.
55. And
i t s
conclusions in
e f fec t
chal lenged the
ra t iona l
bases of the
de i s t i c
assumptions a t
a
cruc ia l po in t .
56. Cf. B.M. Laing: op. c i t . , p .
176.
Richard
Falkenburgh: History
o f Modern Philosophy,
p . 228.
57
E
.C.
Mossner:
The
Life of
David
Hume,
Chapter 25.
58.
Deism
in
Encyclopaedia
of Phi losophy.
Ed. by
Paul Edwards.
59
.
B.A.O.
Will iams: Hume
on Rel ig ion in David
Hume,
A
Symposium. Ed. by
D.F. Pears ,
pp. 78-79.
Carl L. Becker: op. c i t . , p . 36.
G.R.
Cragg: op. c i t . , p .
137.
I .Stephen: op. c i t . , Vol.
l ,
pp. 313, 317.
60.
See
Trea t i se ,
Book
l ,
Sect ion
IV, Par t B.
Hume
l inked
the
orthodox
teachings
on
the
soul
with
Spinoza's monist ic
pr inc ip les . This
la rge ly
f i c t i t ious
analogy
cons t i tu ted
the
basis for Hume's
a t tack on the substant ia1 soul a t one
s tage .
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32
61.
The
appropr ia te i d en t i f i ca t io n s and
references are
given in the var ious chapters t h a t discuss Humels
wr i t ings
in
th i s thes i s .
62. The Trea t i se and the f i r s t ed i t ions o f h i s essays
were
publ ished
anonymously. The l 8 th century
publ ica t ions
of the
essays on su ic ide and
immortal i ty
never
ca r r i ed
the
name
of
t h e i r
author .
63. This fea ture i s notab le in EHU
Sect ion
XI
and
in
the Dialogues.
64. See, B.A.O.
Williams, in
op. c i t . ,
ed.
by
D.F.
Pears) ,
p .
78.
65. David Humels
Natural
History of
Rel ig ion in
Monist ,
Vol.
XIX, 1909 ,
p .
269.
66. See, Anton Thomsen: op.
c i t . ,
pp. 274-276.
This
wri te r
has r i g h t l y noted t h a t Humels
contemporaries never
mistook the heterodox impl ica
t ions
of
h i s
opinions .
Throughout
the
eigh teen th
century Hume was
regarded
as an i n f i d e l .
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CH PTER
I I I
A TRE TISE OF HUM N
N TURE
The
basic
pr inciples of
Humels philosophy were
enunciated
in
his
f i r s t
work, A Treat ise of Human Nature.
I t was
published
in 1739, and evoked l i t t l e
immediate
in te r -
es t Hume
1
s
main
aim in tha t
work
was to examine the complex
operat ions of the human mind.
2
He l ikened his approach
in
the
3
T r e a t ~ s e to
tha t of
an a n a t o m ~ s t
and t rue to form, t r ~ e d
to
dissect or analyse
the various
philosophical
questions
tha t
fe l l
with in i t s
range.
Hume 1 s invest igat ions
were
system-
at ica l ly extended to
the
realms of the understanding, passions
and morals. And the
most
s igni f icant aspect
of
his conclu-
sions re la ted to. the theory of knowledge.
The
Treat ise ,
then
was
not
a
work
on
re l ig ion
However, t must
be noted
tha t
rel igious considerat ions and rel igious issues were
not
to ta l ly
excluded
from
i t i
4
on the contrary,
they were
ra ised a t
33
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34
various levels and
were
a t
certa in
points drawn into
his
gen-
era l discussion
there . Thus, though re l igion
was seemingly
remote from
the
centra l concerns of the Treat ise ,
re l igious
views
of
considerable
s ignif icance
were nevertheless actual ly
elaborated in it
Consequently, it
would be re levant for
purposes
of
the
present
disserta t ion
to
examine those views
by
following the
appropriate stages of Hume s discussion.
Religion engaged Hume s at tent ion a t
the very
outse t
of
his invest igat ions
in the
Treat ise . He observed
tha t r e l i -
gious inqui r ies involved
the use
of
manls
mental facul t ies .
A
proper acquaintance with
the
operatio ns of those facul t ies
he suggested, would fac i l i ta te the improvement
of re l igious
knowledge.
However, the
actual
elaboration
of
Hume s
epistemological theory, which engaged his
at tent ion
in the
body
of the work, did not include
a systematic
examination
of the
foundations
of
re l igious not ions .
6
Nevertheless, his
general views on
hum
an knowledge had
sorne
noteworthy
implica-
t ions for
re l igion;
and
they were frequently i l lus t ra ted by
appropriate re l igious references. Moreover,
speci f ie
r e l i -
gious
concepts, especia l ly those of
God
and the soul, at t racted
his
at tent ion
a t
certa in
points in
his
discussion.
The
sequel
attempts
to
consider Hume s
views
on
these
matters .
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35
Religious
theoris ts
have often
t r ied to
speculate
on
the
ul t imate
aspects
of human nature . Hume, s igni f icant ly enough,
dissociated
himself
from a I l such
inquir ies
in
the
Trea t i se .
He
did
not
pretend
to
explain the
original
qua l i t ies
of human
nature ;
7
or to
give an
account of
the ul t imate
causes
of
. 8
mental actl.ons . e
also
observed
tha t the ult imate causes
of
the
impressions of sense,
i . e . , the
sources
of knowledge),
were ra t ional ly inexpl icable . He found
t impossible
to
decide
with
cer ta in ty whether they arose from mind,
matter
or
were derived from the Author of
our
being .9 ume was
indeed
prepared to allow tha t both material and immaterial objects
may have qual i t ies inaccessible to the mind. But such unknown
qual i t ies ,
in his view,
offered
no
basis
for s igni f icant
10
knowledge.
These
considerat ions
led
him to confine his
at tent ion
to the sensible appearances of objects
rather
than
the i r rea l nature
or
operat ions .
ll
Inquir ies
which proceeded
beyond
appearances
were f ru i t less ,
for
they only yielded
scepticism and uncer ta inty. ume held
tha t
a fa i r
confession
of ignorance
on a I l matters
tha t transcended
sense perception
was
jus t
and
proper.
12
The
foregoing
views were
appropriately
reflected in what
were perhaps his f inal
submissions on
ques-
t ions of ult imate
knowledge.
Where am l ,
or what? ume
asked,
from what
causes
do l derive my existence, and to what
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36
condit ion shal l
l return? Whose favour
shal l
l court and
whose
anger
must
l
dread?
What
beings
surround
me?
and on
whom have
l any
influence
or who
have
any
influence
on me?
l am
confounded
with
these questions
and begin to fancy my-
se l f
in the most deplorable condit ion imaginable environed
by the deepest darkness and u t t e r ly deprived of the use of
every member
and faculty.1I13
The
ult imate
quest ions which
ume raised
are
clear ly centra l
to
re l ig ion .
However
his
philosophical
system s ignif icant ly enough
was not capable
of
coping with them. Sceptical tendencies were prominent in
Humels philosophical
approach.
And t is indeed noteworthy
tha t he was inc l ined to favour
a scept ical
outlook.
14
Though
ume endeavoured to avoid lIultimate
l
explana-
t ions he challenged many conventional
attempts
a t graft ing
such explanat ions onto philosophical discussion. For
instance
he was quite
opposed
to the t rad i t ional
atternpts a t
appealing
to
God as the guarantor of t ru th
or norms.
Hence
c r i t i ca l
and
negat ive
statements
l5
re la t ing to the
sta tus
and the
role
of
God
are indeed
found in a var ie ty
of contexts in the
Trea t i se . Many
of
ume s the is t ic
references
were made in
passing
and
were therefore
necessar i ly
br ie f . Nevertheless
the i r implications for philosophical theology are considerable;
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37
and
in
any
case, they are also worthy of note
as
clues to
his
re l igious
views. ume questioned the legitimacy of
invoking
God as an explanatory
hypothesis
in sorne areas
of
thought .
Thus,
in
his discussion re la t ing to
mathematics
and
space,
he was not prepared to
enter
ta in the supposi t ion that the
Deity could form
a perfect
geometr ical
f igure . He found an
appeal beyond the senses and the imagination
in
tha t instance
16
absurde
Similarly, he c r i t i c i sed and
re jected
the Cartesian
attempt
to
explain
the ultimate power
and
efficacy of
matter,
(which
the
Cartesians
sa id
was unknowable), in
terms
of
an
original impulsion
of
the
prime mover or
the
Deity.17
Accord-
ing
to
Hume the ult imate
power or
efficacy residing
in
God
was as much unknowable as tha t residing in matter . Hence,
the
supposi t ion
tha t
the Deity
functioned
as
the
source
of
power in matter,
he claimed,
was
baseless
and indefensible.
For the idea of a Deity, l ike any
other
idea, must be derived
from
an impression; and
i f
no
impression ei ther of sensation
or re f lec t ion implies any efficacy, t i s equally
impossible
to discover or even imagine any
such
act ive principle in the
. 18
D e ~ t y .
AlI
in
aI l
ume
s tated
tha t
the
imperfections
in
our
ideas
of mind l.nd
matter
19
also extended our
ideas
of the
Deity. However, in an apparent attempt to
soften
the heterodox
suggestions of
his thinking
a t
th i s point ,
he
observed tha t
our
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38
inabi l i ty to form a
dis t inc t
idea
of
the
Supreme
Being
can
have no ef fect on e i ther re l ig ion
or
morals .
This was
so,
according
to him, because the order
of
the universe
proved
t t d 20
an
o m n ~ p o en
m ~ n
The doctrines
of
the Treat ise tended, s ignif icant ly
enough,
to undermine the bases
of
two
t rad i t ional
proofs
for
theism--the
ontological
argument and the cosmological argu-
21
ment.
ume himself suggested
the impact of
his
phi los-
ophical views on the
ontological argument. That
argument,
t
might be
pert inent
to recal l , was
founded
on the
thes i s
tha t
the concept of
God,
(or the most
perfect
being),
logica l ly
implied his existence.
ume
s cr i t ic i sm proceeded from a
considerat ion of the
term Il
existence . He
contended tha t
existence was
not
conceived by a par t icu lar idea
which
could
be
joined to
the
ideas of
God's other
qual i t ies
(or perfec-
t ions) . Existence,
th en , was not a
separate and dis t ingui sh-
able idea
Consequently, he claimed
tha t when l
th ink of
God, when l
think of
him as existent , when l bel ieve him to
be
t t d f h t h d h
22
e x ~ s en ,
my
ea 0 ~ m n e ~ er ~ n c r e s e s nor ~ m ~ n ~ s es .
Thus, the supposit ion
tha t
the
ontological
argument
proved
existence as a qua l i ty logica l ly
involved in the
concept
of
God was negated by Hume's submissions. Likewise, he challenged
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39
the cosmological
argument
with
h i s
account of causa t ion .
23
This t r ad i t i o n a l proof
for the ism t r aced
t he e f f i cacy of
causa l
connections
in
the world to a f i r s t cause , or
God.
But
fol lowing
h i s
analys is
of causa l connec t ions , Hume observed
t h a t
the ef f icacy or the energy of causes did no t stem from
t he
Dei ty .
He argued t h a t the e f f i cacy
or
energy
o f
causes
i s
ne i the r
placed in the causes themselves, nor
in t he Deity ,
nor in the concurrence of these two p r i n c i p l e s ~ bu t belongs
en t i r e l y
to the
soul ,
which
considers
the union o f
two or
more
objec t s in a I l pas t ins t ances .
t
i s here t h a t r ea l power o f
causes i s
placed ,
along with t h e i r connec t ion o r necess i ty . , ,24
Hume,
it must
be noted ,
denied
the no t ion o f
necessary
cause .
2
l d
l
f f l
, 1 f 26 h
He p ace a
orrns
0 causa ~ t y on a
s ~ m ~
a r o o t ~ n g T u s ,
even e f f i c i en t c a usa l i t y , which has
of ten
been
employed to ex-
p l a i n Godls c rea t ive
ac t ions
in
phi losophica l
theology) was
brought under h i s general ana lys i s , the reby depr iv ing
it
of
i t s customary e xp l i c a t i ve value
in
r e l i g i ous thought .
Hume made
sorne
general comments on
severa l aspects of
r e l i g i on i n
the
T r e a t i s e .
The
examinat ion
o f
t he
foundations
o f b e l i e f in p ar t i cu l a r , was the occas ion for a v ar i e ty of
such
comments. Bel ie f or fa i th}27 p lays
an impor tan t p a r t in
. r e l i g io n .
This impor tance
i s of ten r e f l ec t ed
in t he
mat ter o f
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40
discover ing
as weIl as sus ta in ing re l ig ious t r u t h s . In
e lab-
ora t ing h i s
theory
of
b e l i e f ,
Hume
was
perhaps mindful
o f
t h a t
facto
For he sought
to c l a r i f y
sorne aspec ts
of
h i s views
with
r e fe rence to b e l i e f as it opera ted in r e l i g io n . Before pass ing
on to
a review
of
such r e fe rences , it
would
be
r e levan t to
note t he
main f ea tures o f Hume
' s i n t e rpre ta t ion
of b e l i e f . He
def ined b e l i e f as a l i v e ly idea
r e l a t e d
to , or assoc ia t ed with
a
presen t
impress ion .
28
Bel ie f
then
was
not
founded
on
re soni
it was
determined
by the pr inc ip l e s of assoc ia t ion or connec-
29
t i on t h a t opera ted in
the
realm
of
thought .
What was
pe c u l i a r
to
b e l i e f was the manner
of
conce iv ing
an
idea .
F ic t ions or fancies o f the imaginat ion were not d i f fe ren t from
b e l i e f in r e spec t o f t h e i r na ture . The
di f f e r ence
lay in the
super ior
force
o r vivac i ty . Be l ie f s
alone
were
accom-
d b h h
30
pan1e
y t ese c a rac te r1s t1cs .
The pr inc ip l e s
o f
connec-
t i on t h a t opera ted in the realm
of
thought were resemblance,
t
t d t 31
con
19U1 y an causa
1on.
Their in f luence
was
apparen t
in
t he or ig in and sustenance of b e l i e f . Aspects of re l ig ious
l i f e af forded
i l l u s t r a t i o n s for Hume's theory .
The ceremonies
o f
Roman catho l ic i sm,32
he
observed,
had
the
e f f e c t
o f
giv ing
the
d i s t an t immater ia l
objec t s
o f i t s worship,
an
immediate
sens ib le
meaning. This
i l l u s t r a t ed , according to hirn, the
inf luence of resemblance in enl ivening b e l i e f . For,
the
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41
images,
postures
and external
motions
of
the
Catholic r i tua l
served
to
strengthen the force
and
l ive l iness
of the ideas
such
as were implied by
the tenets of tha t re l ig ion .
The
respect paid
to re l ies
and images
of
Saints
were
indica t ive
of
the
influence of causation in strengthening and maintain-
ing rel ig ious
be l ie f .
Relies,
he held,
were veri table
e f-
fec ts , l inked by
a
chain of consequences to the i r cause,
the
Saint
who was
the object of
worship.33
The rel ig ious
s ignif -
icance
of pilgr images to
holy
places exemplif ied the
opera-
t ion
of the
re la t ion of cont igui ty . The
pi lgr im's
presence
a t holy places made
t
possible
for
him
to
pass on from the
present
impression
of such
places
to
a
bel ief , i . e .
a
l ive ly
34
idea)
of
the incidents
connected
with
such
places .
Hume's
examination of the foundations of be l ie f also tended
to
throw
sorne l igh t
on
two
other issues of
in teres t
to
re l igion,
viz,
35
miraculous occurrences, and
the
future
s t a t e
of
the soule
e noted
tha t credul i ty
or
an easy fa i th
in
the
testimony
of
36
others
was an
universal
human weakness. Men
tended to
s t ray
from what ume viewed as the t rue standard of experience. e
observed tha t they showed
a
remarkable propensity to believe
whatever
is reported, even concerning appar i t ions, enchant-
ments,
and
prodigies, however contrary to dai ly experience
and
b
t
37
o
serva lOn.
Moreover,
he
pointed
out tha t
passions were
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42
favourable to b e l i e f .
38
n d ~ e a r g U e d t h a t admira t ion and
s .urprise had t he same e f f ec t as other pass ions , so t h a t
among
the vu lgar ,
quacks
and pro jec tor s meet with a more easy f a i t h
upon account
of t h e i r
magnif icen t pre ten t ions ,
than
if they
kep t themselves wi th in the bounds of moderation.
The f i r s t
astonishment
which
n a tu ra l ly a t t ends t h e i r miraculous
r e l a -
t ions spreads i t s e l f
over
the whole
soul ,
and so v i v i f i e s
and
enl ivens
the
idea
t h a t it
resembles
t he in fe rences
we draw
f
39
rom e x p e r ~ e n c e On
t he sub jec t of the fu ture s t a t e of the
soul ,
i . e . , t he l i f e a f t e r death) , the b e l i e f s
o f
the major i ty
o f mankind according to Hume remained weak o r nega t ive .
40
Relig ious
exhor t a t ion
had
smal l e f f ec t on t h i s mat te r .
Indeed
d i sb e l i e f in t h i s i n s t ance was a
c on t r a s t
to the b l ind c redu l i ty
which men
disp lay
on
other occas ions .
However
ind i f f e r ence
with regard to t he fu ture s t a t e , ume c la imed